Protective full face helmet

ABSTRACT

Presented is a protective helmet ( 10 ) for use in combat and weapons training using non-lethal training ammunition. The helmet ( 10 ) has an attachment unit ( 36 ) for contact with the wearer&#39;s head, from which the other parts of the helmet ( 10 ) are supported. The other two main parts of the helmet are a helmet unit ( 12 ) which basically covers the rear half of the user&#39;s head, while the front half of the wearer&#39;s head is covered by a visor body ( 14 ) which includes a transparent face shield ( 24 ). Then the visor unit is rotated to an open position, the wearer&#39;s face is fully exposed, and when in a closed position, the wearer&#39;s face is fully visible to a trainer, and the face shield provides a field of view of greater than 180 degrees.

PRIORITY/CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61358577, filed Jun. 25, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) generallyrelates to helmets with a face shield, and more particularly to aprotective helmet for protection from projectiles during combatsimulation.

BACKGROUND

Over the years, leading training authorities for both civilian andmilitary acknowledge that reality-based training is the effective meansto prepare individuals for the situations usually experienced in fieldapplications. For combat training of SWAT teams, military, and police,that involves combat simulations using Non-Lethal Training Ammunitions(NLTA). In such training, protective equipment is utilized to preventthe wearer from injury by NLTA. In this field, manufacturers andtrainers continue to use inadequate gear, and even repackage the sametype of gear never correcting the inherent problems of the helmet orclothing. These problems consist of breathing difficulty, fogging of thevisor, lack of communication clarity, inability to observe facialexpressions and non-verbal communication, restriction of movement,mis-recognition of training participants and roles, too much protectioneliminating the threat of consequence, and limited access to dutyequipment. The disclosed technology of the inventors addresses thoseshortcomings in a protective helmet.

Often students wear helmets that fog and restrict their breathing somuch that they become frustrated and want to quit. The training involvesthe instructor watching the hands and face of student for threatrecognition, but to do that the student's face must be visible. Thehelmet of the disclosed technology solves these types of problems andmore.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The function of the disclosed technology of the protective helmet is foruse in training with non-lethal training ammunition. It offers completehead and face protection from NLTA projectiles and solves many if notall of the shortcomings of prior art helmets.

The helmet would be used in law enforcement, military or private sectorsecurity reality-based training using non-lethal training ammunitions(NLTA) to prepare individuals for situations usually experienced infield applications relating to their professional duties. The use ofNLTA includes but not limited to paintball, Ultimate Training Munitions(UTM), Simunition FX, or ATK Force on Force. The helmet can also be usedduring paint ball use or games during recreational or training venues.

The disclosed technology is a protective helmet that is lightweight,adjustable and which cleans easily. The helmet's visor lifts up forunobstructed debrief communications while maintaining head protection inan active training environment. The helmet visor lens does not fog andoffers a complete 180+degree visibility. Facial features and expressionsof the user are clearly seen and non verbals can be responded toappropriately. Verbal communications are easily heard when the helmet isdonned and breathing problems or claustrophobia of the user arenon-existent. The helmet is flexible, so adequate cheek weld on shoulderfired weapons is easily obtained. The helmet may be comprised of threesections, the helmet and the visor and the attachment unit or harness.

The helmet is preferably made of polymers which may be chosen from allthermoplastics, thermo sets, or elastomers used in injection moldplastic. The plastic can be comprised of any polymers like epoxy andphenolic (thermosetting plastics) or nylon, polyethylene or polystyrene(thermoplastic). The plastics can be any variation, type or density ofplastics to include plastic, graphite, silicone, rubber, fiberglass, orcombinations thereof. The helmet is constructed for the human head ofany race, gender or age. The helmet is preferably constructed forone-size-fits-all preferably with an adjustable articulating component.The helmet preferably encloses the human head except for the face areawhere it is open from the forehead region to the chin area when thevisor body is raised.

The helmet is vented with spaces, holes or cutouts. The area of thehelmet behind the head preferably can be moved towards or away from thefront of the helmet to fit various size heads. This portion of thehelmet may be moved by an elastic cloth-type strap, for instance.

The visor is preferably impact rated for any NLTA projectile and is fogresistant. The helmet visor attaches to each side of the helmet and canbe raised or lowered by the user at will, by rotation around pivotpoints on either side of the helmet. The helmet visor locks in theraised and lowered position. The helmet visor is constructed and shapedto reveal the entire face of the user.

The protective helmet of the disclosed technology combines all offollowing functions or aspects: complete protection of the head andface, light in weight, adjustable, easily cleanable, visor openablewhile maintaining head protection, anti-fogging, complete 180+ degreevisibility, complete observability of facial features and expressions,immediate recognition of verbal communications, reduction of breathingproblems or claustrophobia, and flexibility of material.

Both the helmet and visor can be reconfigured, reshaped or reconnectedto produce a different helmet design as long as the basic premise of theproduct still combines all of following functions or aspects: completeprotection, lightweight, adjustable, cleans easily, lift able visorwhile maintaining head protection, anti-fogging, complete 180 degreevisibility, complete visual of facial features and expressions,immediate recognition of verbal communications, non-existent breathingproblems or claustrophobia, and flexible material. The helmet or thehelmet visor could be adapted to be integrated with Kevlar helmets orhelmets used by military or SRT/SWAT personnel for NLTA training.

The helmet is designed to be used in conjunction with physical combativeprotective gear or suits.

The helmet is designed to be worn with a light weight individual hood.This design allows students to share helmets without sharing sweat. Thehelmet has no cloth or other material inside to hold body fluids and iseasily cleaned and passed between users if necessary. The visors can bereplaced if scratched or damaged during use.

The device includes a helmet attachment unit, or support harness, whichsecures the helmet onto a wearer's head. The helmet attachment unit cantake a number of forms, including foam pieces which are affixed to theinterior of the helmet. One successful type of helmet attachment unit ismade of a generally horizontal head band made of plastic which extendsaround the wearer's head in a 360 degree loop. To this may be attached acrown strap, which is attached to the head band generally in the earregion of the head band and which passes over the top of the wearer'shead, from ear to ear. Another part of the helmet attachment unit can bechin strap which is also attached to the headband or to the crown strap,and extends generally from the left ear region to the right ear regionin a loop which passes under the wearer's chin. Attached to the headbandcan be a front adjustment unit which adjusts the headband by changingthe diameter of the head band so that it fits securely on a wearer'shead. On either side of the head band, in the left and right ear regionmay be located a left and right hinge post. A visor body is attached tothese hinge posts and the hinge posts allow the visor body to rotateupward to open the unit in the front to fully expose the wearer's face.

The protective helmet is made up of two main components besides thehelmet attachment unit. These are the helmet unit and the visor body.The helmet unit generally fits on the rear half of the wearer's head,and typically ends at about the mid point of the top of the wearer'shead, and extends to below the ears of the wearer, and to a positionbelow the occipital region of the back of the wearer's skull. It mayextend further forward on the skull, but may typically end at about themidpoint of the wearer's skull or approximately at a region consistentwith the coronal suture on the top of the wearer's head.

Attached to the helmet unit is a visor body which generally covers thefront half of the wearer's face. It attaches to the helmet unit, and tothe helmet attachment unit, at the pivot points, generally in the earregion of those units. The visor body is configured to rotate from aclosed position to an open position. In the open position the faceshield portion of the visor body points generally straight above thewearer's head and the wearer's face is completely open in that position.The visor body is made up of several parts which together cover thewearer's full face, forehead, top of the head, chin and under the chinand extends back to the ear region of the wearer.

In the open position, the visor body is configured to expose thewearer's full face, generally from the eyebrows to below the chin, andthe full face circumference from about ear to ear. One part of the visorbody is a hemispherical upper rear portion which has a curved shapewhich is consistent with the curved shape of the helmet unit on the backof the wearer's head. These two shapes are consistent so that the visormay rotate backwards and the upper rear portion of the visor will rotateover the hemispherical helmet unit on the back of the wearer's head.Attached to hemispherical upper rear portion is a transparent faceshield which extends generally from the wearer's eyebrow to below thewearer's chin and generally from the wearer's ear to the opposite ear.

One configuration of the protective helmet of the disclosed technologyincludes a brow piece attached to the upper rear portion, with the browpiece extending out over the wearer's features, in a similar manner asthe brim of a baseball hat would. In this configuration, the brow piecehas surfaces which fit with the transparent face shield in order to forma full face covering over the wearer's face. Part of the purpose of thefull face covering is to fully protect the wearer's face fromprojectiles, and part of the purpose of the full face covering is toallow the wearer's facial expressions to be observed. Since this helmetis used in training and combat simulations, it is important for thetrainers to be able to see the response of the wearer in terms of facialexpressions and emotions, for recognition and reaction to threats. Thevisor body includes a lower portion which extends from the pivot pointgenerally over the ear region and extends forward in front of and belowthe chin region of the wearer. In each of the sections discussed, thereare air ventilation holes which allow circulation of air through thehelmet. The helmet has a left and right chin extension piece whichtogether form a u-shaped piece which goes in front of and below thewearer's chin. The helmet unit and the visor body come together in a waywhich leaves no gaps along the side of the helmet for possible entry ofprojectiles. There is also a chin piece for attachment to the left andright bottom edge of the visor body, along the left and right chinextension piece, for closing the helmet directly below the wearer'schin.

The brow piece and the left and right chin extension pieces generallyform a seal against the transparent face shield which in transversecross section would be generally a semi-cylindrical cross section. Theface shield thus forms a closed region in front of the wearer's facewhich is large enough and sufficiently ventilated so that the wearer'sbreath does not cause condensation inside the face mask. The visor bodyalso rotates up onto the top of the wearer's head at which time thewearer's entire face is exposed and open.

The field of view provided to the wearer is greater than 180 degrees, sothe wearer can use his whole peripheral vision to best advantage incombat simulations.

The protective helmet of the disclosed technology thus is made of ahelmet portion which covers roughly the back half of the wearer's headin a visor body which covers basically the front half of the wearer'shead and face, with the visor body being pivotable on the pivot pointsto fully expose the wearer's face.

The purpose of the Abstract is to enable the public, and especially thescientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosureof the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define theinventive concept(s) of the application, which is measured by theclaims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of theinventive concept(s) in any way.

Still other features and advantages of the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s) will become readily apparent to thoseskilled in this art from the following detailed description describingpreferred embodiments of the inventive concept(s), simply by way ofillustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out the inventiveconcept(s). As will be realized, the inventive concept(s) is capable ofmodification in various obvious respects all without departing from theinventive concept(s). Accordingly, the drawings and description of thepreferred embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, andnot as restrictive in nature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the helmet of the disclosed technology.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the helmet showing the chin piece.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the helmet attachment unit of thedisclosed technology.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the helmet with the visor unit in the openposition.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the helmet showing the attachment unitand the helmet unit.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the helmet of the disclosed technology

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is susceptible ofvarious modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustratedembodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will bedescribed below in detail. It should be understood, however, that thereis no intention to limit the inventive concept(s) to the specific formdisclosed, but, on the contrary, the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) is to cover all modifications, alternativeconstructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope ofthe inventive concept(s) as defined in the claims.

Shown in the figures is a preferred embodiment of the protective helmet10 of the invention. Shown in FIG. 1 are the exterior features of thehelmet that are visible from this view. This includes a helmet unit 12which generally covers the rear half of the wearer's head. The helmetunit 12 could extend to cover more of the wearer's head, but in thisembodiment, the helmet unit covers the rear half of the wearer's headfrom about the sub-occipital region on the back of the scull to a pointat approximately the middle top of the wearer's skull, about consistentwith the wearer's coronal suture on the top of the head. The helmet unit12 as well as the rest of the parts of the helmet is preferably made ofa high impact plastic.

Attached to the helmet unit 12 is a visor body 14 which is made up ofseveral parts. The helmet unit 12 is generally hemispherical in shape,as it generally contours the back of the wearer's head. The upper rearvisor body 22 of the visor body 14 is also hemispheric in shape. It isjoined to the helmet unit at a pivot point 16 on each side of thehelmet. The upper rear visor body is consistent with the curvature ofthe helmet unit so that the visor body 14 may rotate backwards and theentire visor body which covers approximately the front half the wearer'shead may rotate back. Shown in FIG. 1 is closed position 18. When thevisor body is rotated on the pivot points 16, it rotates to an openposition which is shown in FIG. 4. As seen in FIG. 4, in the openposition the wearer's entire head from eyebrow to below his chin andthroat are open and visible.

FIG. 1 includes a transparent face shield 24. The face shield 24 ispreferably made of clear plastic such as Lexan®, but other similarmaterials with sufficient impact resistance and optical clarity may alsobe used. Shown in FIG. 1 is a temple piece 48 which is connected to theupper, rear visor body 22, in the ear region 34. The temple piece 48includes an ear region 34 which has perforations 56 to assist inventilation and improved hearing for the user. Attached to the righttemple piece 48 is a right chin extension piece 30, which extend infront of and below the wearer's chin. A similar left temple piece andleft chin extension piece 28 are present on the left side of the helmet.The periphery of the brow piece 26, the temple piece 48 and the chinextension pieces 28 and 30 form a surface to which the face shield 24 isattached and which seals in the air space between the face shield 24 andthe wearer's face. The relatively large volume of air thus enclosedhelps to prevent fogging. In a preferred embodiment the forward mostportion of the brow piece is approximately 4 inches in front of thewearer's forehead, and the forward most position of the chin extensionpieces is approximately 3 inches in front of the wearer's chin, with theface shield being approximately 3 inches in front of the wearer's nose.

Shown in FIG. 2 is the same embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, which furthershows a chin piece 32 which is attached to the sides of the left chinextension piece 28 and the right chin extension piece 30. Shown in FIG.2 is the helmet unit 12, pivot point 16, visor body 14 and face shield24.

FIG. 3 shows a view of a preferred embodiment of the helmet attachmentunit 36. This unit includes a head band 38 which extends 360 degreesaround the wearer's head and has an adjustment knob 44 on the headband38. Attached at the pivot point 16 is a crown strap 40 which extendsover the wearer's head and helps support the weight of the helmet whichis attached to the helmet attachment unit. Part of the helmet attachmentunit is a chin strap 42 which is shown as being attached to the crownstrap 40, but may be attached anywhere on the head band 38 or the pivotpoints. The chin strap 42 is preferably made of a resilient plasticmaterial.

Shown in FIG. 4 is the helmet 10 with the visor body 14 in the openposition 20. In this position, the user's face from approximately theeyebrows to below the chin is fully exposed and open. Shown in FIG. 4,the visor body 14 includes an ear region 34 which generally isconsistent with the ear area of the wearer. The helmet unit 12 alsoincludes an ear region 50, and the two of these partially overlap. Onthe ear region 50, there is an alignment ridge 52. On the ear region 34,there is a positioning slot 54 which when the visor body is rotated to aclosed position, the positioning slot 54 engages the end of thealignment ridge 52 and locks the visor body into the closed position.Shown in FIG. 4 is the head band adjuster 44. Visible in FIG. 4 is thefront edge 46 of the helmet unit 12, which shows that the helmet unit 12covers approximately the rear half of the wearer's head.

Shown in FIG. 5 is the helmet attachment unit 36 with just the helmetunit 12 attached to it. Shown is the headband 38 and the chin strap 42,and one pivot point 16.

Shown in FIG. 6 is front view of the disclosed helmet. Shown in thisview is the visor body 14, the upper rear visor body 22, the brow piece26, both pivot points 16, face shield 24, the left chin extension piece28 and the right chin extension piece 30. The view shown in FIG. 6 showsthat the entire face of the wearer is visible through the closed facemask, from approximately the eyebrows to below the chin. The purpose ofthis full faced exposure is to allow the wearer's face to be seen duringcombat training simulations. One of the purposes of the helmet is toallow trainers to view the wearer's reactions to unexpected events, todistractions, and to observe emotional indicators on the wearer's face.This is facilitated by the full face exposure of the face shield 24, asillustrated in FIG. 6. Other figures such as FIG. 1 show that the visorbody 14 and the face shield 24 provide more than 180 degrees of field ofview for the wearer, so he may fully use his peripheral vision.

While certain exemplary embodiments are shown in the Figures anddescribed in this disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that thepresently disclosed inventive concept(s) is not limited thereto but maybe variously embodied to practice within the scope of the followingclaims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that variouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A protective helmet for protection of a wearerfrom projectiles, comprising: a helmet attachment unit for placement ofsaid helmet on a wearer's head; a helmet unit which is generallyhemispheric in shape, and configured to cover a wearer's head generallyfrom a sub occipital region the back of the skull to a front edgelocated at a region generally at a middle top of a wearer's skull,generally at least at the wearer's coronal suture on the top of thehead, said helmet unit extending down the sides of a wearer's head to aposition below a wearer's ears; a visor body attached to said helmetunit and said helmet attachment unit at a pair of pivot points on eachside of said helmet, with said visor body configured to rotate from aclosed position to an open position, by rotating around said pivotpoints, and when in said open position configured to expose saidwearer's full face generally from eyebrows to the ears, including thechin, with said visor body comprising a hemispherical upper rear portionshaped consistent in shape with a front region of a wearer's skull,configured to extend from about the top of the forehead to the centertop of the head, at least past the middle of the wearer's head or saidfront edge of the helmet unit, and a transparent face shield portionattached to said visor body and extending generally from a wearer'seyebrows to below the wearer's chin and generally from a wearer's ear tohis opposite ear.
 2. The protective helmet of claim 1 in which saidhelmet attachment unit further comprises a headband configured toencircle a wearer's head in a generally horizontal fashion, and a crownstrap configured to pass over the wearer's head generally from an earregion of said headband to an opposite ear region of said headband. 3.The protective helmet of claim 1 in which said helmet attachment unitfurther comprises a chin strap attached to said headband at two places,and configured to extend below a wearer's chin forming a loop, forsecuring said headgear to said wearer.
 4. The protective helmet of claim1 in which said visor body includes a brow piece attached to said upperrear portion, and a left and right chin extension piece extending fromsaid ear region of said upper rear piece to in front of a wearer chinregion, with said brow piece extending forward from said upper rearportion of said visor body, with said face shield mounted on anunderside and periphery of said brow piece and along the outside of saidchin extension pieces.
 5. The protective helmet of claim 1 in which saidhelmet unit and said visor come together in a way that leaves no gapsalong the side of the helmet for possible entry of projectiles.
 6. Theprotective helmet of claim 1 in which said visor body further comprisesa chin piece for attachment at a left and right bottom edge of saidvisor body, for closing off a space below said wearer's chin.
 7. Aprotective helmet for protection of a wearer from projectiles,comprising: a helmet attachment unit for placement of said helmet on awearer's head comprising a headband configured to encircle a wearer'shead in a generally horizontal loop, and a crown strap attached to saidheadband and configured to pass over the wearer's head generally from anear region of said headband to an opposite ear region of said headband,with said attachment unit further comprising a chin strap attached tosaid headband at two places, and configured to extend below a wearer'schin forming a loop, for securing said headgear to said wearer, a helmetunit attached so said attachment unit and comprised of a rear cranialunit which is generally hemispheric in shape, and configured to cover awearer's head generally from a sub occipital region the back of theskull to a point at least at the middle top of a wearer's skull, with afront edge located at a region generally at a middle top of a wearer'sskull, generally at least as far forward as the wearer's coronal sutureon the top of the head, said helmet unit extending down the sides of awearer's head to a position below a wearer's ears; said helmet unitfurther comprising a visor body attached to said helmet unit and saidhelmet attachment unit at a pair of pivot points on each side of saidhelmet, with said visor body configured to rotate from a closed positionto an open position, by rotating around said pivot points, and when insaid open position configured to expose said wearer's full facegenerally from eyebrows to the ears, including the chin, with said visorbody comprising a hemispherical upper rear portion shaped consistent inshape with a front region of a wearer's skull, configured to extend fromabout the top of the forehead to the center top of the head, at leastpast the middle of the wearer's head or said front edge of the helmetunit; a brow piece attached to and extending forward from said upperrear portion of said visor, and a left and right chin extension pieceextending from said ear region of said upper rear piece to in front of awearer chin region, with a transparent face shield mounted on anunderside and periphery of said brow piece and along the outside of saidchin extension pieces, said face shield extending generally from a topif a wearer's forehead to below the wearer's chin and generally from awearer's ear to his opposite ear; and said visor body further comprisingchin piece for attachment at a left and right bottom edge of said visorbody in a chin region, for closing off a space below said wearer's chin.8. The protective helmet of claim 1 in which said helmet unit and saidvisor join together to leave no gaps along the side of the helmet forpossible entry of projectiles.
 9. The protective helmet of claim 1 inwhich said visor body further comprises a chin piece for attachment at aleft and right bottom edge of said visor body, for closing off a spacebelow said wearer's chin.
 10. The protective helmet of claim 1 in whichsaid visor body extends toward the back of the wearer's head to behindan ear region.
 11. The protective helmet of claim 1 in which visor bodyextends to below a wearer's chin region and covers a wearer's chin onsides and front.
 12. The protective helmet of claim 1 which furthercomprises a chin piece which attaches to said visor body below awearer's chin.
 13. The protective helmet of claim 1 in which said faceshield is curved and extends around a wearer's face from a left earregion to a right region, and provides at least a 180 degree field ofview.
 14. The protective helmet of claim 1 in which said face shield isdirected directly above said wearer's head in said open position. 15.The protective helmet of claim 1 in which said helmet unit coversapproximately half of said wearer's head, from a midline of the headfrom a line ear to ear over the top of the head, rearward to thesub-occipital region.